


a shoulder to lean on

by the-bi-sokka-club (blametheone)



Series: the club hits 1k [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Best Friends, Friendship, Gen, just a response to a tumblr suggestion, that's it thats the whole thing, this is not enough words for me to tag, you've got a friend in me starts playing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blametheone/pseuds/the-bi-sokka-club
Summary: Aang taking care of Zuko because he's a good buddy.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: the club hits 1k [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840897
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99





	a shoulder to lean on

**Author's Note:**

> i was going to write a series of scenes additional to this (aang and zuko tossing beans off the roof and making a competition out of it, and zuko taking care of aang post-kataang-breakup which also happens to be a scene from an upcoming fic) but i do not have the spoons for that shit and have not had them for many moons so this is all you get.

Zuko had been Firelord for about two weeks when Aang came to visit the Fire Nation again, dressed in his most formal clothes out for respect for Zuko’s council.

(Who, apparently, when Sokka had walked in with Zuko dressed in only his light summer outfit from their adventures, still ripped up and burnt around the edges, had gasped and fainted and tried to convince Zuko to make new friends.)

(Zuko did not.)

(Sokka has an entire wardrobe but continues to wear the old outfit whenever he meets with the council for petty reasons.)

(It’s a whole thing.)

Aang nodded his head as the door was opened for him, trying to be respectful as possible in the Firelord’s court, with Toph’s voice echoing around in his head about his high society manners (or lack thereof). He didn’t care so much about being formal for the sake of being formal, it was more out of respect for the other people in the room, and for Zuko.

If Sokka’s letters rang true, Zuko wasn’t the most well-loved Firelord, and was having trouble convincing the bodies on his council that he was reputable and capable, and Aang wasn’t about to jeopardise that by waltzing in unprofessionally and letting the council assume that all of Zuko’s friends and influencers were mangy traitors.

(That was literally what Sokka was called after last time.)

(Aang nearly went Avatar-State to avenge him.)

(It’s a whole thing.)

So, Aang entered, and he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Zuko holding his head up with his hand, glowering, while one of the generals gave a speech about patriotism.

Zuko was impulsive and short-tempered at the best of times, and Aang noticed after a moment that Zuko – frankly – didn’t look like he was doing all that well.

His hair line was lightly doused in sweat, his knees were bouncing and he must have been trying desperately to keep his hands still but Aang noticed the tremor. The circles under his eyes were noticeable, and his glower was half-lidded. Aang winced and gently stepped forward into the room, trying to keep his steps quiet as possible as to not disrupt the meeting.

“I just think we should focus on sending relief to the western colonies before removing our northern soldiers,” the general finished his speech.

“And I think you should focus on removing that stick from your ass before opening your mouth, but sometimes we have to make compromises,” Zuko responded, to immediate uproar of the council.

Aang, reeling from shock, jumped in quickly before anyone else could, putting a hand on Zuko’s shoulder.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, looping his arms underneath Zuko’s shoulder to haul him up, to very little complaint. “So, it looks like our Firelord needs some food and some sleep! I’m just going to get him out of here.”

One of the councilmen interjected, trying to physically stop Aang, and crowing that they were in the middle of a meeting. Aang suggested, nicely, that maybe the meeting wasn’t going to be very productive anyway.

When the doors closed behind them, Aang still huddled under Zuko’s shoulder even though he could hold himself up just fine, the firebender whispered gently, “thank you,” followed by, “I don’t like that room.”

Aang didn’t say anything, didn’t need to, just nodded and kept them walking.

“General Chen,” Zuko spoke after a while, “He’s trying to get more soldiers to the western colonies to continue controlling the civilians. He’s trying to stall us removing soldiers from the Earth Kingdom, so he’s passing new soldiers off as ‘relief’. Their official directive is to ‘keep the peace’, and unofficial directive is to use any force necessary.”

Aang knew that Zuko wouldn’t go off at someone without a cause, but the cause still shocked him. It always shocked him, how awful the people in power in could be.

“It would be easier to bow down and agree,” Zuko mumbled. “I see why my father and his father just went along with it. They were bad guys, and they all had meetings where they fed on each other’s hate. They didn’t have to think, to make awful choices. They just had to say yes to the things other people were saying…”

Zuko sighed deeply, leaning in towards Aang for a second. Physically, he had the strength to hold himself up, but it appeared that physical strength was his only strength left in him for today.

“It’s okay to be tired,” Aang rubbed Zuko’s shoulder. “Thoughts are like a cart pulled through the sand. At first its easy to go whichever way you want, but after years of following the same path, the sand gets compact and the wheels are stuck in the same track. Pulling the cart off the path takes a lot of effort, and you don’t just do it once. You have to do it again, and again, and again, to wear down the tracks that were made.”

“So, I get to do this over and over again?” Zuko mumbled, and Aang’s pretty sure that counts as a joke.

“Yeah,” he bumped Zuko’s shoulder. “But eventually, the sand shifts, and you can forge a new path.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, but there was no heart in it. His lips were still pulled up into a small smile.

“It’s okay to have had enough for today,” Aang grinned up at Zuko. “You can get some sleep, and start at it again tomorrow.”

Zuko smiled. It wasn’t quite how it worked, being the Firelord didn’t spare enough time to be able to call it quits when you got tired, but it was a nice thought.

“Thanks, Aang,” he pushed gently against the airbender’s shoulder. “You’re a good friend.”

Aang beamed.


End file.
